NL West Rumors: Morse, Rosario, Rockies, Padres
The latest from the NL West..
- The Giants are looking for left field help but they’re not focused on Michael Morse, according to Alex Pavlovic of the Mercury News (via Twitter). SF loved what Morse did for them, but defense is a big concern for the club at the moment. Both the Orioles and Marlins are known to have interest in the 32-year-old (33 by Opening Day).
- A number of teams, mostly AL clubs, have inquired on Wilin Rosario and the Rangers appear to be the frontrunners, writes Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post. Texas has relievers that interest the Rockies, including right-handers Roman Mendez, Jon Edwards, Shawn Tolleson, Phil Kleinand Spencer Patton, as well as lefty Robbie Ross Jr.
- If the Rockies and Angels get serious about a Josh Rutledge deal, Saunders writes that Colorado could target right-handers Vinnie Pestano and Fernando Salas. As of last night, the two teams were only talking and had yet to exchange proposals.
- The Padres are now among the teams that are kicking the tires on Mets pitchers Dillon Gee and/or Jonathon Niese, a source told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
- The Dodgers were said to be among the finalists for Andrew Miller but it turns out they never even made an offer, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
Mookie Betts Moves To Relativity Sports
Red Sox second baseman/outfielder Mookie Betts has joined Relativity Sports, according to Alex Speier of WEEI (via Twitter). Betts was previously a client of the Wasserman Group.
Betts, 22, won’t be arbitration eligible until after the 2017 season and isn’t slated to hit the open market until the 2020 season concludes. While there was some speculation that Betts could be put on the block this offseason, the Red Sox appear to have zero intention of moving the promising youngster. Just last week, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com wrote that Boston is open to trading any position player, with the exception of Betts and a few others.
To keep up with everyone’s representation, check out MLBTR’s Agency Database. As the database shows, Relativity also represents a number of other notable Red Sox, including David Ortiz, Koji Uehara, Will Middlebrooks, Clay Buchholz, Matt Barnes, and Daniel Nava.
Latest On Sergio Romo
The relief market is in full swing this morning. Sergio Romo is arguably the best bullpen piece left on the market. The 31-year-old righty had a down year last year, but had been lights out for some time before and regained his former dominance over the season’s second half.
Here’s the latest:
- The Dodgers, Yankees, and Red Sox all have interest in Romo, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports on Twitter. All said, it would appear that Romo has quite a wealthy group of suitors, which bodes well for his ability to max out his market.
- Romo is in talks with the incumbent Giants, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The Tigers have actually not inquired on Romo, Rosenthal tweets in correction of his prior report. San Francisco is in, though it has other priorities, he adds.
NL Central Rumors: Pirates, Lynn, Neshek, Reynolds
The Pirates seem willing to spend on relievers, as Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. “We have typically stayed away from large dollars in the bullpen,” Huntington said. “That said, we are evolving as a organization. We’ve got a little more to spend now. For the right guy, we can go a little bit beyond our comfort zone.” More out of the NL Central..
- There’s mutual interest between the Cardinals and Lance Lynn in discussing an extension this winter, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Yesterday, GM John Mozeliak inferred that he had a chat with someone from Excel Sports Management about Lynn.
- Pat Neshek signed with the Astros earlier today, but he nearly joined the Pirates, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (via Twitter). The reliever was about to join the Bucs, but Houston upped their offer at the last second. Neshek had eight two-year offers in front of him.
- The Cardinals are not only interested in Rickie Weeks, they’re also looking at another ex-Brewer in Mark Reynolds, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter). Reynolds, 31, hit .196/.287/.394 with 22 homers last season.
- The Cardinals aren’t necessarily looking for a platoon partner to pair with Matt Adams, writes Goold. “I believe we saw Matt Adams put together some fantastic at-bats against lefties in big situations,” manager Mike Matheny said Tuesday. “We can’t get too far away from the fact that this kid is still not really long into his career. Lumping him into this idea that he can’t hit lefthanded pitching isn’t really fair right now.”
SK Wyverns Accept Padres’ Bid For Kwang-Hyun Kim
DECEMBER 10, 6:16am: The Padres met with Kim’s agent yesterday, MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweets. Kim has already taken a physical, and as their 30-day negotiating window prepares to close, the Padres hope to have Kim under contract soon.
NOVEMBER 11, 11:51pm: The Wyverns will accept the Padres’ bid for Kim, who now has a 30-day window to negotiate a contract with the Padres, according to a report from Naver Sports (Korean link; hat tip to Sung-Min Kim on Twitter). Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net tweets that Kim is being represented by veteran MLB agent Melvin Roman.
The Yonhap News Agency has a full English report on Kim’s posting, noting that he features a fastball which sits around 93 mph and a sharp slider. However, Kim relies primarily on those two pitches and would like to develop a more effective changeup if he jumps to the Majors. Kim thanked the Wyverns for the opportunity and issued the following statement:
“Now that I’ve been given a chance to try to reach the majors, which has been my lifelong dream, I’ll try to make the best of the situation and prove myself on the biggest stage. I will go back to the drawing board and prepare the best I can.”
9:19am: The Padres have posted the highest bid for Korean lefty Kwang-hyun Kim, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, at $2MM. He notes that Kim’s team, SK Wyverns, might not accept since they were reportedly seeking $10MM.
The 26-year-old Kim is considered the country’s ace, wrote C.J. Nitkowski for Just A Bit Outside. However, Nitkowski feels Kim might be best-suited bullpen work in MLB. In a new article, Nitkowski writes that he expects intense conversations between Kim and SK, with the pitcher pushing hard to be let go.
Kim pitched to a 3.33 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 167 2/3 innings this season in the notoriously hitter-friendly environment that is the Korea Baseball Organization. Though he’s struggled with health in recent years, Kim has a lifetime 3.28 ERA in more than 1000 innings in KBO.
Mets Discussing Dillon Gee With Multiple Teams
WEDNESDAY: The Giants have also contacted the Mets about Gee, Morosi tweets.
TUESDAY 10:23pm: The Rockies and Twins have also spoken to New York about Gee, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.
9:31pm: Up to six teams are interested in Gee, MLB Network Radio’s Jim Duquette reports (hat tip to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News).
8:54pm: The Mets and Rangers are discussing a possible trade that would send right-hander Dillon Gee to Texas, FOX Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi reports (Twitter link). The Rangers were said to be preparing to talk to the Mets about Gee (and Jon Niese) yesterday. While the two sides have talked, however, “nothing is close on that front,” according to The Record’s Matt Ehalt (Twitter link).
With the Rangers looking for rotation upgrades and the Mets shopping their veteran arms, the two teams seem like a good match as trade partners. Gee is a Texas native and played his college ball in Arlington, so a trade to the Rangers would be a virtual homecoming for the 28-year-old. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projects Gee will earn $5.1MM in 2015 via his second trip through the arbitration process, and he’s controllable through the 2016 season. Gee has posted a 3.91 ERA, 2.26 K/BB rate, 6.5 K/9 and 45.6% grounder rate over his 639 2/3 career innings (all with the Mets).
D-backs Unlikely To Make More Big Moves
Here’s the latest from GM Dave Stewart and the Diamondbacks, via Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic:
- The Diamondbacks don’t look likely to use the salary they cleared by trading Miguel Montero on significant moves for the rest of this offseason. (The team did, of course, already sign Yasmany Tomas.) “It’ll be a better market next year,” says Stewart. “I’d like to see where we’re going to end up. Let’s see where we are once we get out of spring training. I think we’re going to be a better team.”
- Montero’s departure leaves the team without a key left-handed bat, but Stewart isn’t thrilled with his options right now for finding another. “This move didn’t dictate whether we go out and get a lefthanded bat,” he says. “There’s just not a lot out there.”
- The Diamondbacks are not interested in Chase Headley, Stewart says. They also do not sound interested in Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy, both of whom are returning from injury.
- The D-backs like James Shields, but Stewart says he has not reached out to Shields’ camp this offseason.
Reactions To And Fallout From The Jon Lester Deal
Here’s a roundup of reactions from around the web on the Cubs’ $155MM deal with Jon Lester:
- Adding Lester is huge for the Cubs, but they’re at least one more good starter away from contention, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (Insider-only). Brandon McCarthy would be a good fit, Law suggests, or they could trade young hitting for another starter. Even if the Cubs’ core of young hitting needs another year to develop before the team can contend, though, Lester figures to age well and should still be pitching at a high level in 2016.
- The Lester deal gives the Cubs more credibility, new manager Joe Maddon told reporters, including MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. “It definitely makes it more believable to everybody else in that [clubhouse],” Maddon said. “I’ll stand up and make the same speech regardless, but when you have it backed up by that particular kind of presence, it adds to it. … Having people like that in the room definitely helps other guys believe this is possible.”
- The deal is an awkward one for the Red Sox, tweets Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan. They could have offered Lester far less last spring than their losing bid this time around, and he would have accepted.
- The Red Sox still have to upgrade their rotation, and their missing out on Lester by $20MM is a bad sign, ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes writes. It will be hard, Edes writes, for the Red Sox to have a rotation without Lester as good as the one they could have had if they had signed him.
- Lester becoming a Cub shifts the balance of power in the NL Central, and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman wonders (via Twitter) if it will be what causes the Reds to begin rebuilding.
- On a related note, Lester’s contract sets the standard for extension talks between the Reds and Johnny Cueto, who is eligible for free agency after 2015, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Rosecrans also notes that, with Lester heading to Chicago, the Red Sox figure to be clearly in the market for starting pitching, and there might be a match between the Red Sox and Reds, who could offer Mat Latos or Mike Leake.
Mariners Again Interested In Dayan Viciedo
The Mariners have renewed interest in outfielder Dayan Viciedo, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. The White Sox have reportedly told teams that Viciedo is available via trade.
The Mariners’ recent attempts to find an outfielder (a position where they’re thin, especially after trading Michael Saunders to Toronto) have, at least so far, come up short. They’ve reportedly bowed out on Matt Kemp, and Dutton writes that their negotiations with Melky Cabrera have reached an impasse. The Mariners also reportedly spoke to the White Sox about a Viciedo trade last July.
Viciedo, 25, is a right-handed hitter with good power, with 21 home runs last season. But he hit just .231/.281/.405 in 563 plate appearances in 2014, and he’s also a weak defender in either outfield corner. The Mariners would likely be hoping for improvement if they acquired him. He’s projected to make $4.4MM through the arbitration process next year, and he has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining after that.
David Ross Drawing Interest From Five Teams
Catcher David Ross is drawing interest from the Cubs, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Padres and Braves and could soon sign, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reports (Twitter links). Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart said earlier today that his team was keeping tabs on Ross, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter).
With Jon Lester in Chicago, there will likely be plenty of speculation about Ross signing with the Cubs. Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan noted earlier tonight (again on Twitter) that Lester’s decision to sign with the Cubs greatly increased the chances that Lester’s former Red Sox teammates Ross and Jonny Gomes would wind up in Chicago as well. The Cubs recently traded for Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero, but they non-tendered backup catcher John Baker are expected to consider trading Welington Castillo.
Ross, 37, hit .184/.260/.368 in 171 plate appearances in Boston last season. The 13-year veteran has also played for the Dodgers, Pirates, Padres, Reds and Braves.